Paper napkin



y 5, 1941 A. D. MILLIKEN 2,281,945

PAPER NAPKIN Filed July 9, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l 'INVENTOR.

. M/ //ff/V May 5, 1942. A. D. MILLIKEN UUUUZ;

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU I INVENTOR. 41/ 44 Mill/K671 BY K ATTORNEY.

r W I m Patented May 5, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PAPER. NAPKIN Alma D. Milliken, Rye, N. Y.

Application July 9, 1938, Serial No. 218,347

6 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and improved tissue and more particularly to that type of tissue that is commonly used for removing from the skin cosmetics such as creams, salves, etc. My invention further relates to a new and improved method of and apparatus for producing tissues for such purposes.

Heretofore, in removing cosmetics and the like from the skin, it has been customary to use cleansing tissues having a characteristic surface, which is substantially smooth, but in use such tissues are subject to many objections.

For example, when such a tissue is used to wipe cold cream or other greasy materials from the skin, a substantial amount of the material remains upon and in the pores of the skin. This is due, in part, to the fact that the smooth surface of the tissue is not able to accommodate itself to the pores and irregularities in the skin surface, so that the depressions are not wiped, as a practical matter. Again, the smooth surface of the tissue becomes filled almost immediately with excess grease which stands upon the skin and thereafter the tissue presents merely a greasy surface to wipe over the skin. If anything, this will serve to press grease into the pores and skin irregularities leaving an easily detected film on the skin.

n the other hand, to endeavor to obviate some of these objections by frequent renewal of the surface of the tissue in use results in more time being spent in replacing the used surface than is used in wiping the face, for example, and the layer of grease on the tissue spreads over the fingers and anything else it comes in contact with, thus causing great inconvenience to the user. When so using such smooth tissues, the excess greasy surface must be folded in so that a fresh wiping surface will be available, and in most instances several such tissues are used in order to wipe the whole area of the face or neck or whatever part of the skin the grease is being removed from. Of course, in an attempt to get the skin as clean as possible, the tendency with ,the smooth tissue is to press upon the skin which of course merely presses the grease further into the pores. There are numerous disadvantages all resulting in leaving a residue of grease and dirt in and on the skin which is uncomfortable and which results in miscellaneous skin blemishes.

A further disadvantage of the smooth type of tissue is that in order to hold the same sufiiciently firmly to perform the wiping operation, it is necessary to crumple a considerable portion, if not all, of the tissue in the hand, thus leaving only a small portion available for wiping purposes. Usually that portion which is crumpled in the hand becomes weakened and easily torn, and is wasted.

All of the above objections apply whether such tissues are used as single sheets or whether several such tissue sheets are combined so as to provide a thicker wiping napkin.

Of course, there are certain manufacturing limitations in such tissues. They must be very soft and yet the fibres should be as porous as possible so as to absorb as much moisture as possible during the short interval of the Wiping process. Nevertheless, either the single or the multiple smooth sheet becomes harsh to the touch when the sheet is crumpled.

One possible explanation of the inefiiciency of the former or substantially smooth types of tissues used for these cleansing purposes is that there is only one, continuous, comparatively long wiping edge or surface advanced across the skin at a time or, at best, only a very few such edges or surfaces.

By my invention, I have overcome all of the foregoing disadvantages, and provided a tissue sheet having unique properties.

In the practice of my invention, I preferably employ a multi-ply sheet of paper, which may be either of a coarse fibre stock, normally unsuited for use as skin cleansing tissues, or of the stock now normally used in the smooth cleansing tissues referred to above.

However the fibres should not be too coarse, such as the very coarse type normally used as hand towels for drying or absorbing water from the skin because such coarse fibres are not suitable for the kind of wiping action needed in removing greases and cosmetics from the skin. As part of my invention, I perforate, or substantially perforate such a multi-ply sheet, and preferably in a particular manner so that a multiplicity of small tufts or mounds are formed. The mounds or the like are spaced very close together and desirably extend in opposite directions from the plane of the sheet. Each mound or projection is sufiiciently extensive to have a formed or shaped base and a large number of loosened fibres of the paper on top thereof so that the projections stand out a substantial distance above the surfaces of the paper, and are resilient.

Accordingly my improved napkin or tissue has normally a highly irregular wiping surface containing a large number of mounds or small wiping elements which are sufiiciently loose and resilient that the napkin or tissue readily accommodates itself to irregularities in the skin and the pores to remove all the cream or other material.

In addition, the whole texture of the paper napkin has been rendered softer, bulkier and more cloth-like in its feel, somewhat resembling Terry cloth or so-called Turkish toweling, and my napkin has a similar cleansing action to such cloth. This is true both for the coarser fibred.

paper, heretofore unusable as skin cleaning tissues, and the finer fibred, softer tissues heretofore used.

One embodiment of my invention as to both the tissue and the apparatus is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a photomicrographic reproduction of a portion of a paper tissue of my improved construction;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged photomicrographic reproduction of a portion of the tissue ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the portion of the tissue bed' containing a large number of perforations or indentations which register with the pins. The platen and bed are brought together as by a rotating cam, and the pins are caused to penetrate the paper. After the sheet has been perforated from one direction, it should then be perforated from the opposite direction and of course in an area somewhere between the first perforations.

According to my present preferred method, it is desirable that the pins be of substantial diameter, as for example inch, with the registering I holes in the bed of slightly larger diameter. Furthermore, the holes should be slightly reamed at the top and the pins should have a long taper to the point, and should be adjusted so as not to penetrate to the full diameter of the pins. A three-ply sheet, I have found to be mostsuitable, and this should be double thickness when acted upon by the pins.

With the above precautions and arrangement of apparatus the paper tissue will be provided I with mounds of fibres which are in and of themselves resilient, which have enough body or strength at the base of the mound to resist reasonable pressure and form a support for loosened fibresat the top of the mound.

Referrin now to the drawings, the sheet of tissue A is a multi-ply sheet (three-ply I have found very satisfactory) and is provided with a 'multiplicity of small, closely spaced mounds B.

Each mound has a tapered or conical base B rising from the surface of the paper, the fibres in which are slightly compressed so that the base will retain its form. Each base is surmounted by a mass of. loosened fibres B". t will be noted from Figs. 1, 2 and 3 that mounds B extend out- Wardly from each surface of the sheet A, and that there are about 60 or 70 mounds per square inch. There need be no definite pattern to the arrangement of the mounds, and the adjacent mounds generally project in opposite directions from the sheet, although that is. not a: requirement of my invention.

Before describing my present preferred method of producing tissues having the above characteristics, it will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a tissue napkin having a multiplicity of small tufts or. the like which. are self sustaining and which retain their general form during handling, and even after use. These tufts or mounds are soft, and pliant, readily accommodating themselves to skin irregularities and being of themselves irregular in size and shape so that as my improved tissue is moved over the skin every portion thereof is subjected to the wiping action of several successive tufts as Well as to the action of the many fibres in each mound.

It is not only not necessary to crumple a portion of the napkin to secure the foregoing results, but it is in fact preferable not to do so thereby allowing substantially the whole surface of the tissue to be used for Wiping or cleansing purposes, a thing which has not been heretofore practical. This use of the whole tissue is facilitated by the fact that grease, such as cold cream, does not accumulate as an excess mass on top of the wiping surface of the sheet but instead it becomes intermingled with the fibres, so that, the used portion is not objectionable to handle. For example, it does not require a whole tissue sheet 9" x 8" to remove from the face the usual quantity of cold cream used in a treatment thereof.

As to. the characteristics of the paper to be used, atpresent the most desirable is a three-ply tissue which isuncalendered, or only partially so, so that the surface of the sheet, prior toheing treated according to the present invention, is not smooth, and the fibres-areto that-extent uncompressed; In the embodiment shown, the plies are held together along-lines C, which are grooves formed by means of a dandy-roller for example, during the process of. making the sheet. The ridges D occur between the grooves C;

As has been indicated above, other multi-ply tissues may be treated as herein described to-improve the'same; but the best results appear tobe obtained withthe stock referred to in the preceding sentence. As to the mounds, most. of them retain the perforated form that occurs during formation thereof, but. the perforated form is not essential insofar as I have been able to determine, it being sufiicient that the top of each mound or tuft has the fibres loosened practically to the point where there is a breaking through of the tissue as the same is stretched in the forming of the mound. I have foundthat a lesser number of mounds or tufts than specified above leaves the tissue improved but apparently not to the same extent as when provided with approximately the specified number, while a greater number of mounds apparently weakens the texturev of the tissuev to such an extent. as to render the same subject to ready and undesired tearing inhandling andus'e.

One. form of mechanism, operable in accordance with my present preferred? method of producing the above described tissue, is illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The apparatus comprisesa fiat platen H which. has projecting: from the lower side thereof a. multiplicity of pins. Ill. The pins are cylindrical and have, in the embodiment I have used, a maximum diameter of approximately inch. However, as shown best Fig. 5, the pins have a long taper from that maximum diameter to a point I3.

In its upper position, shown. in. 4, the platen H engages a fixed stop M, being brought to. that position. by a spring i5 which is seated in. a pocket, 1-6 in the stop, and presses against a collar ll secured to. the post [8 on whichthe platen H- is carried. At its upperend the post It also carries aroller-bearing, 19 with which a rotatable cam 2| engages, the cambeing mount.

ed upon a shaft 22 which is driven by any suitable source of power (not shown).

A bed 23 is located beneath the platen II and the plane of the pin points 13. This bed may be made of Wood or other substantially rigid material, and has a multiplicity of holes, indentations or chambers 24 therein, which register with the pins I2. It will be noted from Figs. and 6 that the chambers 24 are of the same cylindrical shape as the pins 12, but are slightly larger in diameter than the pins. Also, at the upper end, each of the indentations 24 is reamed or bevelled, as indicated at 25, to provide a conical recess thereabout. Of course, it will be understood that the foregoing mechanism is only one possible embodiment of the principles here involved, but it is one which I have found to be satisfactory in the practice of my method of producing a tissue having the above characteristics after extensive investigations using different sizes of pins, different bases or beds, the use of no bed, etc.

When using a three ply tissue, as referred to above, I find the most satisfactory results to be obtained when two thicknesses of such paper are treated simultaneously, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5. The double sheet 26, 21, is placed upon the bed 23 and the platen H is lowered thereon by the rotation of cam 2|, the pins l2 being caused to penetrate the sheets 26 and 21 and to push the fibres of the paper out beyond the plane of the sheets. It will be noted from Fig. 5 that the full diameter portion of the pins do not penetrate the sheets. However, the gradually increasing diameter of the tapered portion of the pins spreads the fibres of the paper sheets into the chambers 24 and against the walls thereof, the proportioning of the apparatus being such that there will be a slight compression of the fibres between the pin l2 and the reamed portion 25 to cause the mound or tuft created by the particular pin to take a somewhat definite form in the region of the reamed portion, and beyond that area the fibres of the paper are stretched out and loosened so as to form a crown of loose fibres, all as discussed in connection with Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

As the cam 2! reaches its low part the spring I5 lifts the platen II from the bed 23, and the stripper 28 removes the tissues from the pins as they retreat past the stripper. In the withdrawal of the pins, the fibres of the paper, due to their normal resilience, tend to close up the apertures made by the pins, thus leaving the loose fibre crowns, with or without an aperture therethrough, as will be seen from Fig. 1.

After the double sheet passes the platen I, it will be acted upon by a second and similar platen cooperating with a similar bed except that the parts will be reversed and will be operated from the opposite direction from that shown in Fig. 4 so as to produce similar mounds or tufts in the space between the tufts already formed but extending in the opposite direction or from the opposite surface of the paper.

When the paper is thus treated the two sheets may be separated, whence each is ready for use, or if the tissue is doubled upon itself prior to perforation then the tissues may be boxed and sold in that condition, the halves to be separated by the consumer preparatory to use.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have described in considerable detail the present preferred embodiment of my invention of a new and improved tissue having unusual characteristics and also of one form of mechanism for producing the same.

Also, while I have described my invention as particularly adapted as skin cleansing tissue it is entirely probable that the principles of my invention may have other practical uses in fields wherein I have not yet conducted experiments as, for example, the resilience and increased body given to the tissue may render it especially adaptable for wrapping and packing breakable articles for shipping.

it will be apparent that modifications and changes may be made in the aforesaid article, apparatus and method without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, as will be clear to those skilled in the art, and such are intended to be covered by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A paper napkin comprising a plurality of layers of paper having formed therein so as to project a substantial distance above the wiping surface thereof a multitude of permanent closely spaced self-sustaining mounds of paper fibres, the mounds being small in cross-section and having crowns of loosened paper fibres to render the napkins soft and bulky to the touch.

2. A paper napkin composed of layers of fibres formed to a substantial thickness and having a plurality of resilient mounds covered by crowns of loosened fibres formed from the wiping surface thereof and sufficiently closely spaced that the surface texture of the napkin is rendered soft and bulky to the touch and the thickness of the napkin is increased several times its thickness before the formation of the mounds.

3. A paper napkin composed of a partially calendered sheet of paper of substantial thickness provided with a multitude of shaped and formed mounds formed from the paper sheet and extending a substantial distance above the normal wiping surface of the sheet, each of said mounds having a crown of loosened fibres and causing the wiping surface to have a soft, fluffy and highly irregular feel.

4. A paper napkin composed of a sheet of paper provided with a multitude of mounds formed from the paper sheet and extending a substantial distance above the wiping surface of the sheet, the mounds having their sides slightly compressed near the base thereof to render the same self-sustaining and the paper fibres substantially loosened at the upper part thereof to render the wiping surface soft, fluffy and highly irregular to the touch.

5. A paper napkin composed of a sheet of paper provided with a multitude of mounds formed from the paper sheet and extending a substantial distance beyond the wiping surface of the sheet, the mounds having their sides shaped permanently near the base thereof and the paper fibres loosened at the upper part thereof until the surface of the paper is broken through at the tops of the mounds to render the wiping surface soft, fluffy and highly irregular to the touch.

6. A paper napkin composed of a sheet of paper provided with-a multitude of mounds formed from the paper sheet and extending a substantial distance beyond each flat surface of the sheet, the mounds having their sides slightly shaped permanently near the base thereof and the paper fibres loosened at the upper part thereof until the surface of the paper is broken through at the tops of the mounds so as to render the flat surfaces soft, fiuffy and highly irregular.

ALMA D. MILLIKEN. 

